The Beginning of The End
by trblmkr207
Summary: YJ/Ultimate Spidey crossover fic KidFlashxOC and NovaXOC Rated T for violence and language This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The end game was never to hurt anyone, or get anyone killed. That was the plan at least, things change. Things always change. Now follow Timberwolf and Jaguar as they parade through New York with SHIELD while avoiding the Justice Leagues watchful eye.
1. Chapter 1

_The explosion had rocked the entire neighborhood, sirens were wailing in the distance. No one could have predicted what had happened at the building. Granted it was an abandoned warehouse, there was no reason for it to suddenly explode. In the rubble laid three bodies, strewn out away from each other as the smoke and flames littered the area. Two were small female frames sprawled near each other, a few feet away from them was a male figure. Their clothes tattered and burned away in places, covered in soot and ash._

 _The two girls began to stir. They shifted in the rubble, pushing the bigger of the blocks off of themselves. They glanced over to each other, checking to make sure they were alive. They cringed as they were moving about, they definitely had broken bones, their costumes were burned to them in some places, but they were concerned for the man lying near them. They ignored their broken bodies and crawled their way over to him._

" _D-da-ad," one in a more grayscale outfit called out, her voice breaking in some points from the pain and tears that threatened to pour from her eyes._

 _The one in blue crawled over and checked for breathing. Panic flooded her features as she checked for a pulse. "L-Lizzie," she said coughing as she rolled their dad over onto his back, "He, he's not breathing! I can't find a pulse!"_

 _Tears began to pour down the two of the girls faces, the first pushed the other out of the way and began pumping on the man's chest. She grunted every push, every movement sending a dull pressure through her battered body and her own breathing problems. "Lizzie!" the other girl yelled as she stood up shakily and tried to push her off of him as the tears fell faster and harder, "He's gone. We have to go. Finish the plan like he wanted. I'm sorry."_

 _Liz hung her head and allowed herself to cave. She let her sorrow out for a bit. "C-Claire," she said as she stood to look at her sister, "where did s-she go?"_

" _I don't know," Claire said as she glanced around the demolished building, surveying for the person that caused this, "She's gone I think."_

" _What about-" she asked, peering through her messed up hair, "where are they?"_

 _Claire ran a shaky, bloody hand through her hair and walked over to a pile of rubble. "I don't know," she said moving some rubble with groans as her body tried to protest, "Right now, we gotta focus on the task at hand. "_

 _Lizzie reached into her pack and pulled out a small medicine bottle , the label had long since been peeled away showing off the two small pills inside. "Let's get this over with and then kill that bitch," she said handing Claire her pill as she knelt next to the body of the man who trained them._

 _Lizzie nodded and sat down next to her sister. She slid the pill between her lips and gave a rough swallow. She looked as saw her sister do the same, she felt a horrible pang of guilt as they stood and tossed the bottle into a nearby burning pile. "Lizzie," she said quietly as tears threatened once again, "I'm so sorry."_

 _Liz sat there shaking in anger, regret, and sorrow. "Me too," she said as her mind began to reel, "It won't be long before the authorities show up, and they won't find traces of the drug in the tox-screen. It won't last very long, but just long enough to throw anyone looking off. I'll see you when we come back. "_

Claire woke with a start, sitting straight up in her bed. She looked over and saw her sister was still out cold in the nest of blankets that she called a bed. She stretched, her bones popping in some places. The nightmares never really went away, yet she never really got used to them. It had been a couple years now. They laid low, bought their time. Hell, they even attended their own damn funeral. The hardest thing was watching their mother break down: Or maybe it was that they couldn't comfort her. She lost her husband and her two oldest children all in one day.

Claire shook her head, clearing her mind of any thoughts. The moving truck would be here soon with what little they had after disappearing. They had to at least look somewhat normal. They had a story all figured out. They had moved here from Alabama at the whim of their workaholic parents who were almost never home. They even came up with new names for themselves. Elizabeth, Liz for short, and Claire Jordan. It was plausible enough. It was a hard thing to choke down, considering they didn't just leave behind a family. No. They left behind an entire life. They had friends, neighbors, classmates and teammates who may or may not be mourning their death even now. They weren't who they used to be anymore.

Claire swung her feet out of bed, sighing as she looked at the time. The window showed the sun now coming up over the skyline of the suburb they were living in now. 'New York City at it's finest,' she thought to herself as she walked down the stairs and to the kitchen, 'at least I kept the coffee pot out of the moving truck.' She started a pot and waited as she watched the neighborhood come to life. The house next door seemed to be bursting with life as she watched through the kitchen window. A boy her age was racing around the house as four other teens were moving slowly through the house, some eating breakfast, others getting ready as well.

She laughed at the chaotic house as she heard the coffee pot finish. She poured herself a cup and made it to her liking, taking a much needed sip as she tried to wake up. She walked around the house that the two now owned, well technically whomever they created as parents owned it. The house was pretty open, the kitchen led right into the dining room. The staircase was in the middle of the floorplan, separating the living room and dining room. The bathroom on the back half of the kitchen, a mudroom nearby. The upstairs held four bed\rooms, only one was occupied at the time though. An attic held some potential to be a studio or workroom for one of the girls, and last but not least an attached garage that was perfect for Liz's lab.

Claire sighed as she thought out the floorplan, figuring out which room would be what when she was interrupted by the door bell ringing. She startled for a minute but then realized the moving van should be there. She walked to the door and looked through the window by the top, checking for any threats. Yep, moving van. She opened the door and smiled at the man who was handing her the keys. "Here's your things," he said with a heavy New York accent.

"Thank you," she said as he turned to leave, getting into another vehicle so he could leave, "And fuck you too."

She sighed heavily and walked out to check the truck. All their boxes were in the back which was a good sign. She double checked that it was locked and walked back into the house to wake her sister. She ascended the stairs and went back into their room. She looked at the sleeping form in the corner and decided she could have a few more minutes, she grabbed her shower supplies and walked into the bathroom that was attached to the room. She washed her hair and let the warm water soothe her muscles before getting out of the shower. She donned her underwear and pants, before pausing and looking into the mirror. She examined the scars that covered her back and arms before she gave up looking them over.

Sighing she slid her long sleeve shirt over her head and quickly ran the brush through her shoulder length dyed brown hair. She looked over her appearance and pulled her hair into a ponytail before heading out to wake her sister. She approached with some caution. "Liiiiizzie~" she sing songed to her sister and knelt down by her area, "Time to wake up~"

The girl in question groaned, flopping around and twisting under the blankets she had cocooned herself in. "no." was her simple reply. Claire laughed, lifting the blanket up to peek at the grey eyes of her sister. "c'mon, our stuff is here, and i'll let you take up the garage~" Liz growled a bit, "still no...too early…..no like"

"Come onnn~" she said pulling the blanket off of her sister, "don't make me unload the truck by myself."

Liz grumbled, curling up into a ball before squirming and twitching. This wasn't abnormal for the girl. She wasn't a morning person. Claire giggled a bit at the quivering ball of teen.

"You evil, vile, wicked woman…." Liz yelped, suddenly jerking straight up. Her medium length curly red hair sticking out in all directions, "I'll have you know, i'm NOT brushing my hair…...i'll get dressed, hell i'll even put pants and a bra on, but I'm not willing to deal with this nest first thing in the morning,"

Liz fiddled with a strand of her now red hair. They both used to be natural blondes, even if Claire's was a bit darker than her own. Now Liz was a red-head and Claire's was a light brown color. Liz made a soft snorting noise.

Claire sighed at her sister and walked back downstairs. She was in the middle of making another cup of coffee to finish waking herself up. She saw her sister come stumbling down the stairs and stop in the doorway. Her hair was just everywhere. "Ya know," she said stopping before taking a sip and looking at her sister, "that look really suits you."

"Oh shut up, i know it's a mess….i'm thinking about cutting it…..it's just getting hard to deal with, and lately it's gotten me in a lot of trouble…...I never liked the idea of being a redhead though…." She hummed, raiding the fridge. Her usual morning habits. Wake up, bathroom, food; any deviation would likely cause mass murder of some sort.

Liz plopped down on one of the stools, nibbling on whatever it was she had dug out of the fridge. Honestly she didn't really care. She glared at whatever was in her vision, which happened to be the window looking into the neighbor's house. "It's saturday right?" she asked, chewing slowly, "why on god's green earth are we up before TEN on a Saturday?"

Claire sighed for the tenth time that morning and looked at her sister, putting down the coffee cup. "Because we have to unload the truck," she said tossing the keys to her sister.

Liz growled a bit, swallowing what was in her mouth. "I don't like them, they are WAAAY too active for it being this early," she scowled at the house next door as she caught the keys.

Claire hummed and stood up from the stool. "Well we might as well get started on getting things in," she said ignoring the look on her sister's face, "Maybe they might actually help us."

Liz scowled more, "Rule 1: trust no one." she huffed, standing up, "I don't intend on letting them anywhere near my stuff till i get things locked down."

Liz slipped on a short-sleeved hoodie over her black tank-top and headed for the front door. The girls walked down to the truck and opened the back. They rummaged through the truck before finding some boxes that needed brought in before the rest, mostly dishes and other necessities. They were just about to start moving the furniture inside when the door to the neighbors house opened up . Liz tensed, looking over at the source of the noise. A taller teen walked out first. As soon as he caught sight of them he smiled a bit and began moving towards them. ' _No…noooo...turn around…fuck!_.' Liz pleaded to herself, rolling her eyes. When he got there and she could see his features a bit better, she took a deep breath, committing things to memory. Brown hair, hazel eyes, nerdy looking.

"Hi there, I'm Peter Parker" he said in a voice that was much too happy for Liz's liking.

"And nobody really asked who you were," Liz quipped back, placing her hands on her hips.

Claire looked to her sister, then to Peter. "Sorry about that," she said jumping out of the back of the truck, "I'm Claire and this is my sister Lizzie. We're your new neighbors."

Liz groaned at the nickname, "IT'S LIZ FOR CHRIST'S SAKE WOMAN!"

Claire laughed a bit. "Payback's a bitch isn't it?" She said as she glanced behind Peter to the other teens, sizing them up and memorizing their features as well. One was a tall latina looking female, a mexican boy around their height, a tall buff african boy, and a somewhat normal looking blond boy who seemed to be the same height as Peter. She let her gaze linger a bit more, really taking in their body language and how they didn't want to be there. "So what brings you all out here at this hour," she asked as she wiped her forehead.

Peter was about to say something when Liz chimed her two sense in, "Probably trying to be our hero, because us ' poor, helpless' girls can't POSSIBLY move all this big heavy furniture on our own!" she sighed dramatically, using her fingers as air quotes and adding a mild southern accent to her words, "I mean honestly, i'm not sure how we survived until you lot showed up!"

Claire sent her sister a pointed look as she watched the boys' reactions. "Seriously," she chided in a scolding tone, she then changed her demeanor, "But if that's the case we would love your help."

"Well, she would, quite frankly I wish you would all kindly fuck off" she grinned, leaning her chin in her palm.

Peter looked a bit intimidated. "Yeah, actually my Aunt May told me you moved in yesterday while I was out, and I was gonna see if you wanted help, not because I don't think you can handle this, but because it's POLITE," he said the last part a bit louder with a pointed look at Liz.

"And just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Liz straightened up, her accent getting a bit heavier.

The calmer of the two smacked her hand into her head. "Will you stop!?" she exclaimed as she turned to her sister, "I don't care what 'Dad' told you! Get over it! We need help as to not break the things from 'Birmingham'."

Liz groaned, bordeline growled, "Oh my Jesus H Fuckin' Christ FINE!"

Peter rolled his eyes, "can we expect her to always be this dramatic? I mean, she reminds me a little of Sam."

The shorter Mexican boy, Sam apparently, looked mildly offended, "Fuck off Parker!"

Claire sighed. "If only you knew," she said as they climbed back into the truck, "all the rest is mostly the furniture, if you don't mind helping with that."

The tall blond smiled and stepped forward. "We would be more than happy to help you," he said as the tall african boy stepped forward with him to get the couch, "I'm Danny. This is Luke."

"Hey," Luke smiled and waved to the girls as he and Danny grabbed the couch and brought it inside.

Liz rolled her eyes. "NO ONE CARES OH MY GOD!" she groaned more, grabbing a kitchen chair and walking past them.

Luke laughed, "Well, isn't she just pleasant."

The older teen stood outside and sighed. "She's unique," she said as she grabbed a chair and walked into the house, "the couch can go into the living room, where ever you can fit it!"

Liz walked back out to grab the coffee table and found Sam lurking around.

"Hey you, with the stupid face. You gonna help, or are you just gonna stand there and be in my way?" she taunted, rolling her shoulders and standing up a bit straighter.

She bent down, going for the middle of the table. Sam walked towards her and grabbed one end of it with a smirk. "If you wanted my help you could've just asked," he retorted with a wink.

Liz growled, "Not. On. "

He just continued to smirk, and Liz scowled more. Without warning she lifted the table and yanked it out of his hands."Sorry amigo, you'll have to go find work elsewhere….I got this," she grinned wolfishly.

Sam actually looked taken by surprise, "wait, did you just-"

"Yes, now move," shoving past him she walked back into the house with the coffee table tossed over her shoulder.

Ava looked at him as she walked back out from carrying in a different chair. "You ok Sam?" she asked, genuinely concerned for him.

"I…...I don't know…"

Inside, Liz was giving Claire an exasperated look. Claire giggled, walking over to her as she set the table down. "You ok?" she asked, smiling.

"No, I got hit on…."

Claire started giggling, which turned into full on chuckles. Soon she was bent over in hysterics, repeatedly smacking her knees. "Wh-who- oh my god, Wh-who's the poor, poor idiot that has fallen for YOU of all people!" she managed to breathe out between laughs.

"Oh shut up! I-It's not…..Jesus fuck," Liz said as she blushed and looked away.

Claire couldn't help but keep laughing as the neighbors helped to carry in things. "Well whomever it may be," she said standing back up and wiping her eyes, "May god have mercy on his soul."

Liz scowled at her sister and stuck out her tongue childishly. She sighed as she went back out to the truck as well to grab some more furniture. She glared at Sam as he passed by, carrying another kitchen chair. That boy was going to cause her some trouble, or at least that's what she thought. She watched as her sister climbed back into the moving truck and go for one of the last pieces of furniture, which Danny was going for it as well. Their hands touched as they both grabbed the bookcase. "My apologies," he said looking up at her and smiling.

"No no," she stammered as her brown eyes met his emerald green, much like another person she knew, "I just wanted to make sure this one made it in."

"By all means," he said going for the bookcase again, "allow me."

"No, it's mine," she protested as she tried to help with it, "I can handle it."

"Together?" he asked smiling at her and moving so the two of them could carry it together.

Claire smiled and swallowed the lump in her throat that was forming. ' _Why does everything remind me of him?'_ she thought to herself as she nodded and helped him carry the book case inside.

After making sure all the furniture was secured and placed where they found it fit, they called it day. Claire clapped her hands together with a big smile and surveyed the rooms. "Thank you guys for helping out," she said as she walked into the kitchen and reached into the box with glasses, "Anyone like some lemonade or iced tea? Maybe both?"

"Nooope, nu-uh!" Liz huffed, "why do you do this to me?!"

Sam smirked, "well, I'd like some, if only to watch her squirm!"

"Uugggghhhhhh stop! whatever you think is gonna happen is not so just forget it little man!"

"They seem to be getting along nicely" Peter quipped as he raised an eyebrow at the two teens flirting.

Liz scowled at him, this one was going to make her regret ever moving here. "Can it Parker, or I swear you'll go away and never come back," she growled at him as she raised her glass to her lips, taking a sip.

Peter's mouth fell open, staring at her with a strange mix of fear and anger. "What is that supposed to mean _little girl,"_ he sneered at the girl who was shorter than him by almost a foot.

Claire sighed and put down the pitcher and her own glass, empty from having filled everyone else's first. She looked at the two teens and rolled her eyes. "That was not the best thing for you to say Peter," she said as she walked over to the two arguing.

Liz growled more, clenching her fists and getting right in Peter's face, well, as best she could. She stood up on her tip-toes, baring her teeth at the boy.

"Do you WANT to die?" she yelled angrily, "because this is how you get killed!"

Peter was taken back a little. He quickly regained his composure as he felt the anger rising in him. "Look you-" he started as he was cut off by a cookie being shoved in his mouth, Liz as well.

"That is enough you two!" Claire fumed as she shook a bit, "Eat the damn cookies and separate yourselves. If I have to say it again, you will not like it."

Liz huffed, moving to sit by Sam as she chewed noisily on the cookie.

"Soooo, where have you been all my life?" Sam asked, smiling a bit, "I mean, I totally understand why you're so upset, Parker is kind of a dick."

Claire laughed as she finally poured her own glass. "You're in way over your head there Casanova," she teased as she sipped her lemonade, making her way to the only three that have been quiet, "Soooooo. Thank you all once more for helping. You really didn't need to."

"Hey, no problem. We didn't have anything to do today," Luke smiled, "I'm just sorry we got your sister riled up."

Ava smiled a bit, "Really, it was our pleasure, it was Peter's idea though."

Claire laughed a little, "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll come around. Liz doesn't seem to hate Sam as much as the rest of the general population. She's just mad because our parents moved us here to the city and then just up and left again. They work a lot."

"Well, it's been awful, but i'm going to my dwelling to ponder ways to get rid of a certain pest while simultaneously taming this hot mess of hair I have on my head," Liz stated as she stood up and stretched more, popping her shoulders.

Sam stood as well, "I...uh….so…."

"nope. Not a chance, sorry."

"but-"

"nooooo"

"maybe we could-"

"nuh-uh"

"just a walk or something?"

"no!" She quickly walked away, running up the stairs and locking herself in the bathroom, she didn't want to deal with this. Not right now.

Claire watched the exchange and shook her head with a small smile. "Well that was interesting," she said drinking lemonade she still held in her hands, "Sorry, but what were your names again?"

The tall girl smiled. "I'm Ava, this is Danny" she gestured to the blonde boy with green eyes "And this is Luke," she said as she gestured to the african boy. Sam raised his hand and mumbled his name, still looking at the stairs that Liz had run up. Peter rolled his eyes, "Peter," he said, smiling at the calmer twin.

"Well it's very nice to meet you all," she said nodding to them all and sliding the plate filled with cookies over, "Don't mind Liz. She hates new places and things and people in general."

Peter shrugged, "As long as she doesn't go Lizzie Borden on anyone I think we can handle it," he smiled, backing towards the door.

Danny smiled at her and she could feel her stomach start to do some flips. ' _Not again,'_ she thought as she put a fake smile on and just waited for it to stop. Danny seemed to have noticed or had his own because she noted a small pink color to his cheeks suddenly. "I do hope we can be good friends," he said in a calm and even voice.

"Yeah, if you ever need help moving the furniture again just let us know, we'll be happy to come back over and help out," Luke laughed, placing a hand on Danny's shoulder, "Let's go, Aunt May is expecting us home for lunch."

Claire smiled and walked the group of teens to the door, ignoring the grumbling and groans coming from up the stairs. "Well thank you all," she said smiling at them and opening the door, "If you need anything let us know, and maybe we'll see you at school on Monday?"

"That seems likely" Danny chuckled, "considering we are in the same school district"

Claire could feel the blush begin to creep up her cheeks, "Well then we will see you Monday."

"Till Monday then" he smiled, turning and following three out of four of his housemates out of the house.

Sam lingered back for a moment before following. Something just didn't sit right with him, but oh well. He nodded at Claire and caught up to his housemates quickly. When Liz heard the door close, she peeked around the corner. "They gone yet?" She asked, creeping down the stairs a bit, "because I don't wanna deal with some guy who thinks i'm his next big score or something,"

Claire turned to see her sister. "Yeah they're gone," she said peering through the blinds to see if they were back at their residence, "But they didn't go home."

Liz came downstairs and went into the kitchen, looking into the house. All she could see was the elderly woman, whom she assumed was Aunt May, in a teenager free home. Claire sighed as she came into the kitchen and watched her sister study the neighbor's house. "Well might as well start unpacking," she said undoing a box full of dishes and beginning to put them away in the cabinets before stopping to turn back to her sister, "are you gonna help me?"

"Something's not right…...they said they were going home for lunch, yet they aren't there…..obviously they felt the need to lie, and….something just...smelled off…..I dunno…..Parker...he smelled like a nerd, y'know, books and pen ink, yet he was waaayyy too built…...They could mean trouble for us," Liz squinted her eyes more, "Just…...unpack what you can, I'm gonna go do some recon. If I'm not back in a couple hours…..just wait longer"

Claire huffed, "Ok, you are so NOT going alone!"

"And if they come back and wonder why we are both gone? It won't look weird if I'm out getting food, but for both of us to just leave our stuff and not bother? That's a little weird, I'm not going to do anything drastic…..just...a little light tracking and information gathering….nothing big," she said nonchalantly as she shrugged.

Claire still looked unimpressed. She stood with her hands on her hips and gave Liz a stern look. Liz shrugged, walking to one of the boxes she managed to hide in the garage before the unwanted help. The tape tore off with practiced ease, many moves had the girls used to knowing which box held what. Claire sighed and moved to stand in the doorway to the garage. "So what exactly are you meaning by 'information gathering?'" she asked, eyeing her sister as she pulled out their gear and costumes for their 'extracurricular' activities.

"I mean," she said as she started to shed her clothing to put on her dark colored uniform, "I'm going out and following them. Also scoping out the area for our next target. I mean, we are here on a job, might as well get a gander at who we are tracking!"

Claire took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair. "Fine, but don't do anything stupid, I know how much you love to do stupid shit," she warned, "I don't want to have to pack up and move AGAIN so soon after getting here. We should lay low for a while."

"I do not do stupid shit!" She cried, scoffing and faking offense.

Claire cocked an eyebrow at her sister. Liz at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish. "Ok fine, it was ONE time, and the dude had you in a chokehold! Who cares if the other one had a gun to my head, he was out of bullets I counted!" Liz spilled as she succumbed to Claire's infamous 'look.'

"And what if he wasn't Liz? What if you miscounted and got yourself killed?! you are all I have left in this world, I can't lose you too," she said as she looked down at her feet.

"And you're all I have too, so i'll be damned if I don't do everything I can to save you."

"Liz, just…..be careful….please?"

Liz sighed, placing her Mask over her face and hugging the elder, "Yeah, I will, it's not like they'll know I'm there, They can't track me like I can track them, and I'm waaaaay smarter!"

Claire laughed, resting her chin on Liz's shoulder. She didn't let Liz see the frown on her face. Liz hadn't really been the same since the 'incident', but it's not like Claire could really point that out. Neither of them were really the same after what happened.

Liz sighed, pulling away from Claire with a smile, "I'll be back in a jiffy, I'll pick up some meat on the way back ok?"

"Yeah, okay Liz, can you also pick up some granola and veggies too? Maybe some fruits?"

"Jeez, might as well just wait and go shopping together," she teased, stuffing some spare clothes in her pack, "yeah, text me a list, ok?"

"I will," she said as she watched her sister sling her bag over her shoulder, "Make sure no one notices you. And double back on your way home in case you get followed."

"Yes _mother_ ," Liz said with heavy sarcasm as she snuck her way out the back door to roam the city.

Claire kept herself busy after Liz went out for recon. She had unpacked a majority of their belongings, finding places for them and rearranging them over and over to fit her OCD. The living room had practically been put together, the book shelf loaded with all their books from the places they've been. The kitchen cabinets were stocked with plates, cups, and what little food they had left from travelling. The drawers filled with miscellaneous objects from silverware and cutlery, to flashlights and matches. The bathroom had been stocked and the washer and dryer were hooked up in the mud room.

All that remained was the TV needing to be hooked up and Claire really didn't feel the need to do that just yet, electronics weren't really her thing. So she settled down to moving boxes of her belongings up into one of the spare rooms. Once she sat the last box down, she pulled out her violin. She hadn't touched the thing very much and felt the need to do something productive. She walked back downstairs and towards the backyard with her instrument in hand, hoping to appear normal to the neighbors.

Claire took a deep breath as she held up her violin, feeling herself calm as she pulled her bow across the strings that were still in tune. She began slowly, but soon began to meld into Beethoven as she watched the sunset and walked the back yard. She was in the middle of Fur Elise when Liz appeared back in the doorway to the kitchen, listening to her sister play. It had been a while since she had picked up any of the instruments that she owned. It was good to see her getting back into her normalcy, although they both knew it would never be normal for them ever again. Claire noticed her sister and stopped in the middle of the yard. "How long were you standing there?" She asked as she felt a small blush appear on her cheeks as she made her way back into the house.

"Long enough to see you enjoy playing again," she grinned as she placed some bags on the counter and began to put groceries away.

Claire placed her instrument back in it's case and began to help with the groceries. The two were silent for a little before Liz broke the silence. "So I think I found the next target," she said not looking at her sister as she had her head in the fridge, "but there is a complication."

"Define complication," Claire said as she turned around to see her sister avoiding eye contact, "like are we talking guards, high tech security, or what?"

"It's worse than that. If it were guards or tech it'd be childsplay." she groaned as she finally turned to look at her sister and taking a pause, "This place has heros."

Claire stared at her sister for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "A-are you k-kidding me?" She questioned between bouts of laughter, "T-that's all!"

"Claire, i'm not talking the ragtag team of idiots we used to roll with. I'm talking highly trained with a better success rate than the others. They might even be a better team than us, And that's not even the worse part!" She huffed, lifting the two gallons of milk into the fridge, "These heros, they ARE our targets, and it JUST so happens that our neighbors have a few little secrets of their own!"

Claire raised and eyebrow, "oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Lets put it this way, Spider-man is forever ruined for me," Liz said as she shivered and made a face of disgust.

Claire couldn't control it anymore. She burst into another fit of laughter as she doubled over with tears forming in her eyes. "NO!" She said as she tried to compose herself, "Not Spider-man!"

Liz narrowed her gaze at her sister. "It's not funny!" She said as she crossed her arms and huffed, "Spidey was my sweetheart and now I feel like I wanna throw up! WHY?! WHY THIS?!"

"Don't you think you're over reacting….just a little bit?"

"NO I AM NOT OVERREACTING!"

Claire giggled a bit, setting her violin on the counter to help put the groceries away. Liz continued to mutter profanities and throw things into cabinets. Claire re-organized everything after Liz placed them.

"Stupid Parker…...Stupid stupid boy…...gonna punch his face next time I see him and see how he like HIS dreams being crushed…"

"Mmm-hmmm, and what about Sam?"

Liz narrowed her eyes at the older girl, "what about him?"

"What are his abilities? Or did you 'forget' to look in your shock of finding out who Spidey was?"

Liz's cheeks turned the slightest tint of pink, "Oh shut it, it's…...I don't…...We both know I don't care!"

Claire placed a hand on her twin's shoulder, "Liz…...we also both know how lonely you are. You should really give him a chance.

"No! I don't _want_ to give _anyone_ a chance. Not again."

The two slipped back into silence for a while. Claire stole worried glances at her sister every so often, and Liz pretended not to notice. After a while, Liz huffed as she finished putting things away.

"I'm going jogging," she quipped, walking up the stairs to change into her running gear.

Claire continued to re-organize, "You know you're not the only one who lost someone after it all," she said quietly to herself as she ran a hand through her hair.

"You think I don't know that? I'm sorry Claire, but you chose to do this, hell, you talked _me_ into this. We had a good life there, we could've been so much happier…." Liz sniped as she walked back into the kitchen to grab her music player and headphones.

She tossed on her hoodie and pulled the hood up over her head. She put her headphones in and turned on her running music. As she exited her house she saw the teens next door returning from what was probably a team training exercise. She glanced over at them, her features falling as she locked eyes with Peter. She took off before he could say anything.

Peter looked at Sam, "follow her."

"What the hell Peter?! Stalker much?"

Peter sighed loudly, "look, just humor me! Something is off about those two, and I don't want to risk it. Especially not with Aunt May being so close to them, and you KNOW she's gonna make them cookies and food for them on a regular basis, so please Sam, if not for me do it for Aunt May's safety?"

Sam groaned, jogging after Liz, but didn't go unnoticed by her. She knew as soon as he got close enough that he was there. Her heart sped up from the adrenaline, and her mind started analyzing the situation. ' _Okay…...he's following me. Why? What does he want?_ ' She thought, rounding a corner quickly and picking up speed. He wasn't as fast as she was apparently, which was a good thing. She wasn't _super_ fast, but she wasn't exactly slow. She could easily beat an Olympian runner and not even break a sweat. If fact, she was physically incapable of unfortunate side effect of her powers.

Sam watched after her as he tried to keep up. ' _Damn she's fast_ ,' he thought to himself as she pulled away from him. He stopped to catch his breath after 10 minutes of non-stop sprinting. He hunched over with his hands on his knees as he stared at the ground. "H-how?" He asked himself as he stood up finally and noticed she was completely out of sight, "W-well damn."

Liz hadn't gone far. She lurked from the roof above him, peering over the edge. She wrinkled her nose and resisted the urge to spit. "Heh….stupid hero…..he's used to being above everyone…..so why would he look up?" She grinned, shooting Claire a quick text.

' _I'm being followed by Sam, I'm gonna screw with him a bit, be back soon,'_ Liz grinned, sliding down the fire escape and landing silently behind him. She snuck up and pulled him into a headlock, "Why the _fuck_ are you following me?"

"I just wanted to talk!" He said panicking a moment as he instinctively wrapped his hands on her forearm, "Could you let me out of the headlock now!"

"Give me a good reason and I might consider it. My dad taught me everything I know, he's ex-military you know. I'm lethal, so one wrong move and I won't hesitate little man," she quipped lazily, "And I'll have the cops wrapped around my pretty little finger, so try me."

Sam gulped as he quickly tried to think of a reason. The cops would believe her more than him, since he had been following her. He was never good under pressure, so thinking of something that would get him out of this choke hold was taking a majority of his time. Liz laughed a bit, letting him go and doubling over in her mirth.

"Y-you should see your face! It was great! Oh my fuck you looked like you were gonna piss yourself!" She cackled, smacking him on the back. After a few seconds she sobered up and stood straight, "seriously though…...next time you follow me without announcing yourself I'll most likely hurt you pretty badly, so at least yell out that you're following me."

Sam pushed himself away from her and rubbed his neck. "Seriously?!" He exclaimed as he was calming himself down, "You're messed up in the head."

Liz was suddenly completely calm, but she forced a fake smile. "More than you will ever know," she agreed in a low voice before returning back to normal, "but like I said, next time, let me know you're following me, and I won't mess with you. I mean, you coulda been a rapist or a murderer, or even a sex trafficker….I just met you how was I supposed to know?"

Sam looked at the girl, completely confused but intrigued by her. "Gotcha," he said as he ran a hand through his hair, "How can you run that fast?"

"I was on the track team at my old school, I was captain actually…...and i'm not talking the girls team," she smirked while giggling at the boy, "so….still think you can keep up with me?"

She knew she shouldn't get close, but he seemed...nice? "What about you shorty? You do any sports?" She questioned as he eyed her up.

"Not really," he said shrugging and trying to think of something, "I skateboard but that's about it."

"No wonder you can't keep up! I tried skateboarding once, but I have zero coordination for things like that, and yet I know several types of martial arts, how strange, but I really wanna get into MMA!" Liz's eyes lit up a bit, "seriously! It's amazing! I bet I could kick some serious ass!"

She took a stance and threw some light punches into the air.

Sam chuckled as he watched her become this whole new person, someone happy to talk about something she liked. "Yeah I don't have the best coordination," he said as he felt his cheeks heat up a bit, "but I try my best. I could always teach you….. I mean if you want me too that is."

Liz took a deep breath, trying to regain herself and organize her thoughts. She lowered her fists and stretched a bit. ' _Rule number one: Trust no one. Rule number two: don't get attached._ ' "Slow down there casanova, why don't we start with a walk, I'm not nearly done with my route, that is, if you can keep up, don't worry, i'll even slow down for you. Not everyone can be track stars," she said as she began to walk in the direction she had been going. ' _Why are you inviting him along?! What happened to not getting attached?'_

Sam smiled and watched as she tried and failed to build up a wall between them. "S-sure," he said as he jogged to catch up to her.

She grinned and started her own pace, jogging lightly. It seemed slow to her, but it was pleasant to just slow down for once. She glanced behind her, slowing down every time she saw he was falling behind. Sam pushed himself as he tried to keep up with her, it didn't help he wasn't really in running clothes. Peter didn't really give him a chance to change into proper running shorts or shoes, but well recon needed to be done. He couldn't help but wonder how things were going back with the older teen. ' _Probably not as intense_ ,' he thought to himself as he shook the thoughts from his head.

After Sam had taken off after her sister, Claire watched the group talk for a moment while lost in her own thoughts. She hadn't realized that she had been watching them till she noticed Danny was making his way over to her front door. She paused from making dinner.

Danny knocked lightly on the door, patiently waiting for her to open up. He couldn't help but think Peter was overreacting just a little, but he could see his point. Things had been oddly quiet lately and suddenly they get new neighbors? It could just be the hero in him talking, but the red haired girl did basically threaten to kill Peter. When the door opened and he saw the brunette standing there with a small smile on her face, he felt a bit of the worry go away.

Claire smiled at him and had to force it to stay. "Hey," she said as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Danny, right?"

"Indeed, I..uh…...I just stopped by to see how you were doing with unpacking and all that….." He mentally smacked his forehead, ' _Smooth Danny, very smooth._ '

The young girl chuckled a little and moved aside to let him inside. "I was just in the middle of cooking dinner," she said as she also opened the door more, "You're more than welcome to come in for a bit."

He nodded, stepping inside, "I can't stay too long, Peter's aunt is expecting us all home for dinner, she's a very nice lady, and will probably stop by with cookies any second."

"Really?" She questioned with a laugh as they made their way into the kitchen so she could put dinner in the oven, "I mean it's unexpected. This is New York right?"

Danny chuckled and sat on one of the kitchen stools. "That it is," he said as he watched her cook, and oddly clean as she was going, "Aunt May has a very old fashioned view on how to treat neighbors."

Claire giggled a bit, "I see, it's good to know someone in this city has some hospitality," she quipped. Danny chuckled a bit.

"Indeed, she has enough for the entire city," he smiled fondly, remembering her smile as she welcomed them in after the tri carrier went down in flames.

Claire watched his facial expressions, he was relatively calm but there was something hidden in them. "So," she said as she leaned on the counter to talk to him, "What does one do here in the city for fun?"

Danny thought for a moment. What could he say that sounded relatively normal? "Umm, I usually train in the park," he responded. He realized that it may have sounded a tad abnormal and added quickly, "I practice martial arts."

Claire watched as he tried to cover his tracks, this would be something she would be researching later. "So martial arts?" She said as she glanced out the window to see if her sister was back yet, but instead saw Peter watching from the window, "Aaaand is he usually that weird?"

Danny laughed, "I think your sister has him on edge." He said softly, "Don't tell him I told you this, but Peter lost his uncle to a criminal. He was shot and killed walking home from the store. He's been overprotective of Aunt May ever since, so new neighbors coupled with the fact that your sister threatened him has got him a little on edge, so please don't take it too personally."

"Oh no worries," she said as she waved to him, laughing as he ducked out of view, "I understand the feeling. We are just moving from the middle of nowhere Alabama and here we get tossed into the city. It's a culture shock for Liz mostly, we usually avoid the city. But it was easier for our parents to move here so they could work more hours, take more business trips without travel hassles. So she decided she's the protector of the home. I apologize in advance for any harm she might cause."

Danny nodded, "she seems like a good person, I won't judge her for wanting to keep you and the house safe. It's admirable in a way."

Claire felt her face want to pull into a frown. She hid it though with a yawn and glanced at the clock, ' _I wonder what's taking Lizzie so long on her run._ ' She glanced back out the window, hoping to go unnoticed by the boy sitting across from her. She didn't mean to be flighty, it just sorta came with everything that happened.

Danny did notice, and smiled, "Sam ran off after your sister, so she's probably arguing with him….well, if this morning is anything to go by."

Claire laughed a little, "either that or she knocked him out, I'm not sure which. It depends on the day with her."

Danny smiled at her and placed a hand near her's on the counter. "I'm sure either way, they haven't killed each other yet," he said with a smile as he looked up at the brunette.

Claire was about to say something in response, but the front door opened and two giggling teens stormed into the house.

"Seriously, you run waaay too fast, are you even human?"

"Psh, probably more than you!"

"What's that supposed to mean huh?"

Liz laughed more, throwing her sweatshirt down on a chair and tossing herself onto the couch, "I dunno Sammy, what does it mean?"

Sam groaned, "please don't call me that, my mom calls me that when I've done something wrong and it's terrifying."

Liz laughed more, "then don't call me Lizzie!"

The two burst into another bout of laughter till Danny cleared his throat. The two stopped and stared at the other two.

"Uhhhhh, hey Danny, " Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck, "what are you doing here?"

Liz scowled, "You let him into the house?!"

Claire sighed, "what was I supposed to do?"

"Tell him to fuck off and go away!"

"At least it isn't Parker!" Claire exclaimed as she watched her sister's reaction, "besides, you let Sam in!"

"Nooooo no no no, he followed me in, I never told him one way or another," she said beginning to fume.

Sam and Danny shared a look and raised eyebrows. "Maybe we should get going," Danny said as he stood up from the stool, "We don't want to cause any issues for you two."

Claire ran a hand through her hair and let out a deep sigh, she really needed to stop doing that. "No," she responded sharply, looking at her sister and quickly signing something in their clipped sign language, "It's fine. Why don't you two stay for dinner? Lord knows I make too much for just Liz and myself."

Danny nodded, "only if you're sure it won't be a problem, she seems pretty…..angry."

Claire laughed, "she's always angry, literally, you shoulda heard her on the way up here, 'you idiots learn how to drive!' She's a very angry person, probably because she's short and closer to hell"

Danny couldn't help but double over in laughter. Liz squawked from her spot on the couch, "I am not an angry person, and i'm not short! I just haven't hit a huge growth spurt in a while, but i'll shoot up like a bamboo shoot here any day now i just know it!"

Danny laughed more, "Sh-she reminds me a lot of Sam! He's always complaining about how short he is!"

"Danny what the hell?!"

Danny finally calmed himself, standing back upright and wiping the tears from his eyes, "I'll just let Peter know we are eating here, give me one moment."

Claire watched as the blonde boy walked into another room, probably to call Peter. "Liz," she said eyeing the two boys, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Liz stood up, careful not to turn her back to either of them ,"Yeah, I need to change anyways, so come with me,"

Sam watched the two walk upstairs and Claire smiled at him, "Make yourself at home, Liz went shopping today so there more snacks in the fridge if you'd like."

With that the two disappeared into the room they had been sharing. Danny walked back into the living room and saw Sam sitting there alone. He raised an eyebrow but all Sam did was point upstairs. Danny nodded and sat in a chair near Sam. "Peter wants us to let him know everything we find out," he said quietly, "Although I don't know if there is much."

Sam nodded, "All I managed to find out is that Liz did track, and wants to be an MMA fighter when she turns 18, and that her dad was ex-military. He taught her how to defend herself. She...uh...kinda got the drop on me….not sure how though, we were in an alleyway, there was no way she could have circled around without me seeing her."

Danny nodded. "Claire said that they moved here from Alabama so their parents could have better access for work," he started and began to survey the first floor of the house, "but there is nothing here that would suggest any adult lives here. It's hard to say at this point, I think Peter is just paranoid."

"Well, Claire did say they took off again right after buying this place, maybe they haven't been home yet?" Sam suggested, "And when isn't Peter paranoid? Seriously, he nearly got me killed today!"

"Killed? What do you mean?"

"I mean she had me in a choke hold Danny! She's the first person i've met who is more paranoid than Peter. Like I said, she got the drop on me and I had no idea. So maybe Peter isn't paranoid at all?" Sam spouted as he pondered the circumstances, "This whole situation is crazy, and yet all I can think about is how...weird this all is. Something is off, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I think they just have their own family issues and maybe we should just butt out of it,"

Liz could hear them talking, but couldn't make out everything they were saying, and without getting a good look at their faces, Liz couldn't read their lips either.

"Damn. I can't make out everything, but Parker is involved somehow, we need to be careful," Liz sighed, ducking back into the room to throw her shirt on. She had changed back into her clothes from earlier, since they weren't all that dirty.

"What did you manage to catch?" Claire asked, sitting on her bed.

Liz bit her lip, "from what I managed to catch, Peter might be onto us, though that's not surprising since he is Spiderman, but the rest of them seem skeptical, Sam thinks we just have family issues, and Danny just thinks it's normal. So really Peter's the one we gotta look out for."

"Sam has no idea how right he is…..about the family issues I mean."

"No Claire, we are not talking about this,"

"Liz, you've been so distant ever since-"

"Shut UP CLAIRE!"

"It's just not like you! You were never like this before…...it's….it's really scaring me," Claire said as she looked at her sister.

"Well get used to it, I'm not the same anymore and neither are you. Let's just…..let's finish this job, and get the hell out of here….oh...and one more thing I forgot to tell you earlier, Our neighbors, ARE our targets…..we were hired by SHIELD to test them…..no idea why though, but they are paying us a good chunk of change to make it happen, so what do you say? Tomorrow we go out and raise a little hell?" Liz said as she wiggled her eyebrows at her sister.

Claire sighed, obviously they weren't going to talk about feelings right now, "Yeah, did you find a suitable place to crack?"

"Hell yes I did," Liz grinned at her sister before delving into the details of the heist, "There's a bank on the east side. The security is shit, hell an infant could hack it, but it's one of the more well known banks, and rumor has it a villain group is targeting it at high noon tomorrow, so I say, we swoop in, act like the heroes, take out these wannabe bad guys, and take off with the cash ourselves. If spidey and his crew get in the way, we use non-lethals to take em' out. Since that was the deal when we took the job...no blood…..damn SHIELD and their 'let's save the world' ways."

Claire rolled her eyes and made her way downstairs. "Sounds good," she said as the two boys in the living room instantly became quiet.

She eyed them before heading to the kitchen to check the food. ' _They definitely are on to us,_ ' she thought to herself as she pulled the pot roast out of the oven.

Liz made her way down the stairs quickly and noisily. She never bothered with grace when she wasn't working. If anything it made her seem less suspicious. Well, the way she did it anyways. She spotted Claire in the kitchen and made a bee-line for the food.

"OH MY GOOOD IT SMELLS LIKE HEAVEN!"

"Liz no! Sit!"

Liz immediately sat down on a stool and grumbled.

"You know the rule, guests eat first,"

Liz smacked her head down on the counter. "The first real meal in days and I can't even enjoy it!" She cried, adding an undignified, high-pitched whine at the end of it.

The two boys walked in and Liz glared at them, "Enjoy it…..I don't give up my place in the food chain for anyone. You're lucky Claire thinks you have a nice ass blondie"

Claire blushed bright red, "LIZ WHAT THE HELL"

Danny turned a bit red as well, "uhhhh, thanks I guess…"

Claire tried to avoid eye contact by grabbing plates for them to eat off of. "I am so so so so sorry about her," she apologized as her face seemed to be burning, "I assure you that is not the case, I mean not that I don't find you attractive, I do…. Oh man I just need to shut up. Why can't I shut up?"

Danny smiled a bit, "If it's any consolation, I find you attractive as well," he smacked his forehead, "I mean that in a non-creepy way. I mean that you are really pretty."

Sam chuckled a bit, trying to not make things worse for his friend.

"What my friend here means is that you are a lovely individual," he said patting Danny on the back to try and help him.

Liz's jaw dropped, "WOOOOOOW he _can_ use big words!" She exclaimed with mock surprise.

Claire cleared her throat and began to serve the food. Sam took his plate and thanked Claire. As she held out a plate to Danny, he looked at the food and smiled.

"Thank you for the food Claire. I don't mean to be a bother, but I'm vegetarian, Is it possible to just get veggies?" he blushed a bit, "if it's not too much trouble."

Claire's eyes went wide, "oh gosh I'm sorry! I should've asked! Here, I'll grab some for you."

Sam chuckled a bit, "Don't fret too much Claire, it's actually a bit of a shock to everyone. He avoided telling Aunt May for weeks until someone finally spilled the beans. At least he told you."

Danny blushed more, "Sam there are many parts between the mind and mouth, please use them."

Liz laughed, clapping Danny on the back, "Nice, I think I just might be able to tolerate you."

Claire cleared her throat once more, handing Danny a plate of just veggies. She decided to change the subject. "So what all is there to do around here? How's the crime rate in this area?"

The two of them looked at each other, wondering what they should say. "Well, around here it's not too bad, but once you get into the city….well…..let's just say don't go there alone or without at least a small knife, though with your sister around I think the bad guys should be running for the hills," Sam laughed, rubbing his throat a bit.

Danny sighed, "What he means is that New York is a pretty tough place, and the crime rate is only going up. Plus there's all sorts of…...how do I say this…...ummm…..weirdos? Is that a good term Sam?"

"Better than the word I would've used," he said as he took a mouth full of potatoes.

"Anyways there's some pretty shady…..things….. going on lately, so when I say be careful, i'm not exaggerating," Danny finished, taking a bite of the veggies.

Claire fought the smirk that wanted to appear on her face. Liz and her locked eyes with a knowing look. "I'm sure there has to be something fun to do at least," she prodded as she poked around at the food on her plate, "I mean the Avengers tower is almost in the heart of the city."

Liz scoffed, "If they are so great why is there still a crime rate?"

Claire elbowed her sister hard in the ribs, "будет вам заткнуться?" (will you shut up?)

Liz gasped, glaring at her sister, "но это правда!" (but it's true!)

Sam and Danny looked at each other, "Uuuuhhh what?"

Claire smiled, "oh, uh….we took russian classes, it was our Dad's idea, y'know, being in the military and all we traveled a lot so it's good to know lots of languages!"

Liz grinned, hopping off the stool to lean in close to Sam, "немного медленно соображает?"

Sam blushed, backing away from her, "uhh what did she just say?"

Claire got a wicked grin on her face, "She said she likes your fancy hair and charming smile,"

Liz choked a bit, "LIES! THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID AT ALL YOU WICKED CREATURE!"

Claire laughed loudly, "Then maybe you shouldn't have told Danny I like his butt!"

The boys exchanged confused looks. "Well maybe we should get going," Danny started as most of his food was gone from his plate, Sam's as well.

"Yeah we don't want to worry Aunt May," Sam said as he stood from his chair and cleared his plate.

Danny followed Sam, "Yes, Aunt May gets worried if we stay out too late."

Claire looked at the two and blinked for a moment. "Как вы думаете, что это сработало?"(do you think that it worked?) she asked looking at her sister and smirking a little.

"они слишком глупы понять это" ( they are too stupid to figure it out) She smirked, "Well boys, it was awful seeing you, so let's not do this again, like ever!" She quipped cheerily, shooing them out the door, "see ya later, bye bye then!"

Claire smacked her sister in the back of the head. "Hey!" Liz cried as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What my lovely sister was trying to say is," she chirped as she stepped forward to escort them to the door, "We look forward to seeing more of you and possibly hanging out."

Danny smiled and shook his head, "I'm pretty sure that is not what she meant, but we will be looking forward to it."

Sam waved at Liz, "stalk ya later Lizard!"

Liz groaned, "seriously?! How many nicknames are you gonna give me, and no, do not stalk me!"

After the two had left, Liz threw herself back down onto the couch, "Хорошо ебать меня боком!" (well fuck me sideways)

"Ну это как раз получил в десять раз сложнее,"(Well this just got ten times harder,) Claire said looking at her younger sister, "Что мы должны делать?"(What are we supposed to do now?)

Liz pinched the bridge of her nose, "ад, если я знаю, подождите, почему мы все еще говорим Русский?" (hell if i know, wait, why are we still speaking Russian?)

Claire sighed, "It's habit probably, I don't know, anyways what the hell Liz?"

Liz sighed, "it's not like I begged him to follow me, and I most certainly didn't invite them in for dinner!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" Claire said as she glared at her sister, "It's not like I can just ignore his existence! We have to remain somewhat normal remember."

Liz growled a bit, "yes because we are totally a normal family! What's gonna happen when 'mom and dad' never show up huh?"

Claire looked away, "I….I don't know, we'll figure that out when we get there…."

Liz rolled her eyes, "and in the meantime we're just supposed to pretend all is normal."

"That's the plan."

Liz laughed, even if there was no humor in her voice, "Yes, so everything is ok, and i'm supposed to be happy here, start a new life and just pretend like our life didn't go to hell? Yeah ok, cause that's gonna work!"

"Liz-"

"No, don't 'Liz' me, you are asking me to be happy with a life I never wanted. I accepted your decision to work with those...those _people_ , I accepted that you wanted to date _him_. Hell I even accepted your logic that we should stay dead but I won't sit here and accept that i'm never going to see the rest of our family and friends again! I won't give up what little hope I have left that maybe one day things can go back to normal!" She paused for a moment to catch her breath, "Did you ever think that maybe this hope is the only reason i'm still standing?"

Claire looked down, not wanting to meet her sister's eyes, "I know Liz, I know….but….I just….you have to accept that it may never happen-"

"Don't act all high and mighty with me! I know you hope that you can run back to him someday!" Liz bit back the bile rising in her throat, "I'm going to set up my lab, please do not disturb."

It was Claire who growled this time. She had enough of her sister, enough of the angsty teen who wanted nothing to do with her only family left. "No!" She yelled standing to grab her sister's arm, "You don't get to shut me out again! You're not the only one who lost everything! I lost the only people who cared for me in my life besides you! I have to learn to trust everyone all over again, I can't take it any more. You can't leave me alone," she spoke in a small voice, "I'm scared of what I might do."

Liz sighed, "I'm sorry Clairey," she said, using her old nickname, "I know it's hard, but….I need to shut down for a while, or….or something bad might happen again…..I'm not who I used to be anymore, I know you're trying, and believe me I am too, but...if we get close to people, even if they are heros…..they'll just be in danger….."

"I know, But i'm so tired of being alone, I know I have you but…..but I just…...I miss him Liz….I miss _them_. I miss our team, our friends…...I think we seriously need to try and let these people into our lives. You even said yourself they have a higher success rate, so maybe….. maybe they'll be able to help ."

Liz sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I can make no promises…...but...if it means that much to you, I'll try to get along with them," she said, grabbing a box off the ground, "So, what do you say I hook up the TV and we get started on those games I bought? No sense in fretting what we can't control right?"

Claire grinned, "You're on, but here's the big question, Deadspace or Halo 3?"

"Uh duh! Deadspace, the one we _HAVEN'T_ beaten three ways to sunday?"

"You're southern is showing again,"

"Excuse you it's midwestern, get it right!"


	2. Chapter 2

" _Why do we have to do this?" Liz asked, fists clenched at her sides, "We have a life here! What about mom? What about our team?" She half asked, half yelled, 'What about our friends?' The question that was left unspoken._

" _I'm not asking you to come with me, but Roanoke found out who I was….he saw me Lizzie, I need to disappear, but it's your choice to come with me or not," Claire stated. She didn't want to leave. She knew this would be hard on many people, especially Liz. Their dad sighed._

" _I know it's a tough choice, but you need to make it and quick. We don't have a lot of time," Liz looked to them both, first her Dad, then to her sister. On one hand, her dad had saved her life. Things would have been different if it weren't for him. On the other, there was Claire, her sister. The one person she had that she had any real devotion to. She swore to protect her always, but now she was doubting the one person she would follow anywhere._

" _I-"_

 _They fell silent at the sounds of footfalls, echoing through the shadows._

 _Tap, Tap, Tap_

 _Slow, steady. No rush at all. Liz's breath caught in her throat as she caught the familiar scent of C4. Hint's of gunpowder and other explosive chemicals assaulted her senses. The hair on her neck bristled. She knew that scent._

" _Well, well, well, isn't this touching. I hate to break up this beautiful family moment, but i need to take back what belongs to us." She knew that voice._

 _A woman stepped from the darkness. Liz knew her. They both did._

" _Flare" She whispered, breathless and cold. It left her lungs feeling like a vacuum_

 _Claire growled, pushing Liz behind her. "I won't let you take her from me!"_

" _Oh we'll see about that," she cooed in a sickly sweet voice, "we'll see."_

Liz woke up gasping. The cold air in the bedroom almost choking her. She didn't know if she had screamed, or if it was just a gasp that escaped her. Her body shook as if ice filled her veins. ' _A dream….or...a memory'_ she held her breath for a few seconds before releasing it. It slowed her breathing, but did nothing for her heart rate. Sweat dripped down her forehead. Tears Falling. She wiped them away, realizing that she had probably been crying in her sleep. She groaned curled back up in her pile of blankets, not really wanting to get out of bed. She checked the clock. ' _Six fucking thirty on the dot, same as every morning,'_ She thought, pulling the soft blankets around her tighter. She hated these dreams. She wanted them to go away. She sat up, deciding that maybe walking around the house would help ease her mind. She hadn't really slept at night since she gained her abilities, and wandering had always been helpful to her. Maybe she would go run some more recon before they went out. She quickly jotted down a note and left it where she knew Claire would see it, right on the coffee pot.

She quickly dressed in her tactical gear, and headed out. The early morning air was rancid smelling and made her sick, but it was better than being cooped up in her own thoughts. She reached her destination in a little less than fifteen minutes. She had been jumping from building to street and dashing through alleyways. She even swore she saw some sort of blue light sweep across the sky, but that was probably just her being paranoid. She didn't smell anything different, then again how could she smell anything in the New York air. She hopped up on the rooftop overlooking the bank and pulled out her binoculars to peer down at the security.

' _No guards, minimal alarms, probably old school tech if what I'm seeing is correct, if we ever needed to hit this place again it would be easy, but would be most effective during the evening, so why would anyone hit it at high noon on a Sunday?'_ She thought, furrowing her brows a bit, ' _and why would they let it get leaked that it was going down…..unless…..ah Jesus it's a trap,'_

She smacked her forehead and rubbed her temples. ' _I'd better go disable whatever weapons they have planted, and maybe even place a few of my own, hehehe…'_

She came home three hours later, roughly around nine-thirty in the morning. She had already changed into her jogging gear, so if their nosey neighbors decided to peek out their window, they would just think she had been out for an early morning jog. A _really_ early morning jog.

As she stepped in through the back door, taking her headphones out as she did, she saw Claire reading the news on her laptop. She peeked up from over the screen and smiled.

"Have a nice run?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee and closing the lid.

"I found these scattered all over the place," she beamed, gently placing her bag down on the counter and pulling out several disabled bombs, "looks like whoever is planning this heist, well, there was a reason everyone knew about it."

"A trap?"

"Yep, but now the tables have been flipped, their traps have been removed and I may or may not have rigged up a few of my own design."

Claire laughed, hugging her sister, "Liz, have I ever told you how much of a genius you are?"

"Not nearly enough, so I savor each moment and commit it to memory, just in case you never say it again," she shrugged, pulling away, "so have you made breakfast yet? I'm starving!"

"How long have you been awake anyways?"

"Ohhh, not too long,"

"How long is not too long?"

"Just since about six thirty?"

Claire did some quick math, "wait, you've been up for three fucking hours?!"

"Yeah, yeah I know what you're gonna say, ' _Liiiz, that's gonna throw off your sleep cycle you should be more careful!_ ' Yada, yada, yada, I get it, but sometimes I just can't sleep and that's just something we both have to get used to,"

"Actually, I was gonna ask why you didn't wake me up,"

"Oh…..um…...I just…..no reason, I mean just because I can't sleep doesn't mean you shouldn't sleep, so why don't you just…..drink some coffee and relax while I go get a nice hot shower!"

"That was my plan, I mean you haven't had a bath in-"

"Three days…..I know, but you also know how i feel about them, so just be thankful i'm going by myself instead of you dragging me in,"

" I know, I'm so proud of you,"

"Don't patronize me,"

"I'm not"

"Bullshit"

"I'm serious im very proud of you,"

Liz huffed and nearly stormed up the stairs. Her mind swam with her own thoughts. She grabbed a fresh set of cloths from their room, and headed to the bathroom. She closed the door and turned the shower on. A shiver went down her spine. She ignored the feeling and began undressing. She looked at herself in the mirror. Despite having a good healing rate, she still had scars. They made her stomach turn. She knew each scar, where she got it from, and how she'd gotten it. She looked as a particularly large one carved down her chest. She swallowed thickly and turned from the mirror to step into the shower. Her breath hitched and caught in her throat. Her body jerked and a little noise escaped her. Even if the shower was warm, the memories the feeling brought to her were frigid and terrifying. She opened her mouth to try and breath, but a choked sob was all she managed. She shakily washed herself. Her fingertips ran along her scarred and battered skin. She sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. Her chest felt tight. She couldn't breath. She remained like that for a long time.

Eventually, she managed to turn the water off. She quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself. That was something she didn't have in her memories. The towel was warm. It was safe. She held it tightly to her chest and stood from her position. She didn't bother looking into the mirror. She grabbed her clothes and quickly fled from the room. She ran quietly, and eventually she was in her currently shared room. She closed the door. No mirrors. Not in their room. That had been her terms. Claire had readily agreed.

After she had dried off and gotten dressed she began to brush her fiery, orange-red hair. She missed the Ash blonde locks she had sported. Her hair had been more strawberry blonde, much like her mother, but it had lightened up significantly after she got her powers and turned more dull and ashen. She hadn't liked that very much, and had cried when she had seen her own reflection for the first time after. The one feature she shared with her mother, and it had been taken from her. Life was cruel sometimes.

She shook her head rapidly, dispelling some water in just about all directions, before brushing her hair back out. She quickly tossed it up in a pony-tail. The ends began to curl. That would come back and bite her later.

Liz walked silently down the stairs out of habit. She hadn't meant to, but she had managed to creep unnoticed into the kitchen. She watched Claire as she quietly observed the neighbors house. It was almost peaceful for a moment, but Claire's eyebrows creased worriedly. Something was wrong.

"Liz is not going to like this," Claire mumbled to herself. Liz watched her place her cup in the sink to wash it.

"Not gonna like what?" The redhead asked as she was drying her hair with a towel.

Claire jumped a mile and Liz cocked her head to the side confused.

"Jesus!" Claire cried, nearly dropping her cup, "A little warning next time? Maybe to should put a collar on you with a bell or something!"

Liz tensed, her stomach dropping and lurching dangerously. She stepped back defensively.

Claire's eyes widened, "Shit! Liz, no i'm sorry! I didn't- I wasn't thinking-"

"Just, drop it….." Liz snapped, looking out the window. Claire took the hint, but Liz could see the guilt in her eyes as she looked where Liz was looking.

"Parker just got in from a night of hero business," she offered, nodding her head towards the window.

Liz walked over to the window, groaning the entire way. She glared out the window like she had become accustomed to and groaned even louder. "Your new friends just got back as well," she stated with a bit more venom in her words than intended.

"They're not my friends," Claire mumbled as she began to watch the news feed for anything on the bank, "plus it wouldn't be so bad as to not always be alone."

"Ughh… please spare me the 'we need to make friends' lecture, I really don't wanna deal with that first thing after a shower."

Claire nodded, "so...when do we head out?"

"As soon as I tame this messy mop of hair."

Claire nodded, peeking back at the screen of her laptop. She saw nothing about the bank, which could either be a good thing, or this would be a set up. "Please tell me i'm not the only one a little worried about how this could go?" Claire asked, looking back out the window to see the neighbors leaving again.

"No, you're not…" Liz replied a bit sadly, but her mood suddenly lifted and she smiled brightly, "So that's why I was up at six-thirty setting my own traps and ruining the day of whoever set those other ones."

Claire chuckled, watching her sister's face. Liz brightened. At least that's one thing that had gone right so far. It was gonna be a good day. Liz giggled a bit, be-bopping around the kitchen to her own little tune. It was almost sing-song as she spoke, which made Claire giggle a bit more.

"Iiii'm about to whoop somebooody's aaaaass,"

"Liz stop!" Claire teased, laughing more.

She didn't want her sister to worry, so she smiled and made light of the situation. It was the least she could do. Claire sank to the floor, snorting in her mirth. This had Liz curled up on her side next to her. It was nice to laugh with Claire again.

Liz laughed for a few more seconds before she calmed herself. She hummed, taking a deep breath. She stood back up, going for a glass of orange juice. She sipped at her orange juice and rummaged through the cabinets for something to snack on. She eventually settled for a breakfast bar. She wasn't really hungry, but she ate to keep up some sort of normalcy, even if it was only a few bites of a cereal bar. She watched her sibling as she stood up from her computer to watch the window, noticing the group of teens were out of sight before there was a knock at the front door. Claire glanced over to Liz and held a scowl on her face. "There is no way that's a coincidence," she said walking over to the door and peeking through the peephole. Claire followed her, signing "who is it?" to her sister.

Liz scowled more, Signing back, "it's them….should I pretend we aren't home?"

"No that will look suspicious,"

Liz sighed, opening the door quickly and going into a fighting stance. Parker backed away quickly and the rest of them jumped a bit. Liz rolled her eyes and lowered her guard. Well, so they thought.

"Oh, it's you. Whaddya want?"

"We.. uh….we just came by to see if you guys wanted to hang out or something?" Peter offered, smiling a bit.

"No."

"Liiiz! Don't be rude!" Claire huffed, shoving her sister out of the way, "Ignore her, we'd be happy to hang out today!"

"Speak for yourself." Liz mumble, turning away from the door. She huffed, heading back up the stairs, "If you need me, i'll be unpacking….. I have a room to set up."

Liz stood at the top out of sight. She knew she was just avoiding things again, but she didn't want to have people ripped away from her again. She kept her ears trained on the voices downstairs.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?" Peter questioned. Liz rolled her eyes. ' _I'm just fucking peachy Parker'_

"Nah, she's just moody. She doesn't get a lot of sleep, especially during long trips, so she's still trying to catch up on it y'know?" Liz snorted a bit at her sister's lame excuse.

Liz heard them shuffle a bit, and heard one of them (presumably Peter) clear their throat. The distinct slapping noise signified that Claire had smacked her forehead.

"Right, please come in."

She heard her sister tell them to make themselves at home. She scoffed, walking back into their room again. She packed a small backpack with things she might need. Her cell phone, matches, a flashlight just in case. As an afterthought, she grabbed her boot knife and strapped it to her ankle. It was well hidden under her pants, so she wasn't worried. She could hear the conversation under the floorboards.

"I was just about to make breakfast, anything you guys would like?"

Peter Laughed. Liz hated it. "actually, we already ate, but Sam here is a bottomless pit, so i'm sure he'd be happy!"

"Parker! Shut up!" Sam squawked. Liz smiled a moment, "but if you're offering, uh, Claire? Right?"

Claire laughed a bit. At least one of them was happy. "Yep. That's my name!"

She had enough. She zipped her backpack, and made her way to the stair. She hopped up on the rail, and went sliding down the railing of the stairs. Claire shot her a dirty look.

"Liz, you KNOW mom and dad hate it when you do that!"

"Well, mom and dad ain't here now are they?" she quipped, adjusting her bag.

"Um, where are you going?" she asked questioning her sister.

"I never agreed to hang out today, YOU did. I'm going to go explore the area for a good jogging route. Don't wait up." she huffed.

Claire sighed and was about to argue when Sam piped up.

"Um, I could show you some of the less dangerous routes, if you'd like."

Liz groaned, "seriously? What is it with you New Yorkers and not taking no for a friggen answer! I'm going out to GET AWAY from you, ya really think i'm gonna just bring you with me?"

"Yes."

"Why's that?"

"Because, " he started, "you need my help. You're new here, and you don't know your way around. I doubt your military dad taught you how to navigate in a city…..so why don't you let me tag along. A guide of sorts i guess…"

Liz blushed a bit and ground her teeth. He had a point, but he didn't know that she could track her way anywhere and defend herself just fine. She wouldn't let him have the satisfaction..

. Liz hadn't shown this much of an interest in anyone since their Dad had died. Liz didn't go out of her way to make friends after what had happened. She couldn't stop herself from getting close to someone. She hated it.

She grunted in a non-committal way and walked out the door. Taking it as approval, Sam followed. They walked down the walk, and Liz took a right. Sam followed wordlessly. He didn't say anything for a long time. He simply walked a few feet behind Liz, turned when she turned. It grated on her every nerves. She had never met someone so infuriating.

"What?!" she yelled after what felt like an eternity. (In reality, only ten minutes had passed.)

"Nothing, just thought you'd appreciate the silence."

He shrugged, she sneered at him and continued walking, the silence resuming. She strolled along by the bay, and through somewhat rural areas. She took mental note to go back later.

"I wouldn't go that way."

Liz scoffed, "I think I know my way around idiot, i know more about these rural areas than you!"

He shrugged once more and smirked, "Fine country bumpkin, be my guest."

She puffed up a bit. She grinned at his submission and proceeded to strut forward.

"Thank you, I think I will."

It was a mistake.

Claire and the others were chatting animatedly when Liz caught sight of them through the window. This made her day much worse as she slammed the front door open causing everyone to turn and find the two hotheads storming in. Sam had laughed when Liz fell into the water. She had made it roughly three and a half steps in (she had counted) before the ground gave way and she toppled into the filthy Hudson water. Claire's hand flew to her face as she stifled a laugh. Liz was soaked to the bone and Sam was dry.

"I told you not to go that way!" he shouted as he closed the door, stopping in the doorway towards the kitchen, "But nooooooo! You obviously know better than the person who's been living here the past few months!"

Liz turned around abruptly, startling the Hispanic boy as her grey eyes burned with anger. "DO NOT tell me what to do!" she growled, grinding her teeth, "I didn't need you to go with me and would have been perfectly fine without you!"

The group in the kitchen noticed the tension, but Claire noticed the animosity in Liz's voice. "I think it's time for you guys to go," she said stepping towards her sister, placing herself between Liz and Sam, "Thanks for the help."

Peter's eyes were narrowed as he noticed the change in the two's demeanor. "Let's go guys," he said nodding to the others, "We'll see you in the morning for school."

"Yeah, see ya!" she called back.

When the door had closed, she turned to her sister with concern. Liz huffed, plucking a bit of debris from her hair.

"Stupid little runt, Woulda been just fine, but no, no, you said be nice to the neighbors. I should've taken him down with me. 'Oh! Don't go over there Liz!'" she mumbled the last part in a crude mimicry of Sam's voice.

Claire took a deep breath, taking her sister's coat from her. She patted the young girl's damp hair and chuckled a bit, "You probably should've listened."

"Shut. Up. I can't believe i have to get ANOTHER shower!" Liz shouted as she stormed up the stairs to get her clothes.

Her mind reeled. The water was cold, it reminded her of something far worse than just getting dirty. She stepped into the shower, not bothering to wait for it to heat up after turning the water on. Mud turned the water a murky brown and bits of debris floated on top. She ducked her head under the water and took deep, calming breaths. She couldn't believe she had to go through this again.

When Liz finally returned to Claire, she had calmed down significantly. Claire turned when she heard her sister approaching. She stepped away from the window and sighed. "Feel better?"

Liz grumbled something as she tossed a bag on the counter. Liz watched as Claire surveyed her outfit. It was a simple two piece design, black with gray highlights. The Gray parts were a specially made armor, made of an artificial material she had come up with in the garage with their dad. Liz was in the process of unzipping the bag, pulling out an entirely black suit, well almost. Claire could tell the differences in the colors, one was ink black, and the other was ebony highlights. She nodded to her sister as the suit was tossed to her.

Claire ran a hand through her hair and walked over towards the bathroom. "So I take it we're heading out now," she said pulling her shirt over her head.

"Yes," the redhead murmured as she began securing her belt full of gadgets and tools, "Today is going to be the best day to do this."

Claire had just shimmied out of her pants when Liz picked her head up, sniffing the air towards the upstairs. Her eyes narrowed and she went to stand near the bottom of the steps. Claire held up a hand, tossing her suit and civilian clothing to the side. She made hand gestures to signal she would go up stairs and check, earning a nod from her sister. Claire grabbed a knife from the chopping block and made her way to the stairwell. She crept up the stairs, listening intently for anything. She could hear the heartbeat of the intruder, check that intruders. She heard them begin rustling through the drawers and boxes. Liz smirked to herself as she reached the top, rounding the corner towards the room she shared with her sister.

"Oww!" a hushed voice called, "watch where you're throwing things."

"Well I wouldn't be hitting you if you were actually doing something!" someone hissed.

Liz narrowed her gaze and focused on the shadows, four of the five stood out to her. Two shadows were by the dresser one giant shadow and one with shoulder length hair wearing a mask that was tied back, they were carefully going through the dresser. A tall feminine figure emerged from the bathroom empty handed, approaching a medium stocky build who was searching through boxes. A short figure was hovering, yep hovering, over her bed refusing to assist in rifling through belongings. Claire paused at few feet from the door, contemplating what she should do.

She turned to head back to the top of the stairs, motioning to Liz who had her eyes locked on the stairs. She signed a few more things to her and Liz quickly changed back into her civilian gear. She swiftly made her way up the stairs and to the door.

 _Ready when you are._ She signed.

 _Go ahead, I'll back you up._

Liz quickly pushed the door open and flicked the lights on.

"What the FUCK is going on?" she screeched.

She had to make this believable. Claire came running in, knife in hand. The figure hovering over the bed made a quick landing and held their hands out. The two by the dresser did the same. One wore a green outfit and the other a yellow one, the female wore a white tiger suit, and the one who had been floating wore an almost futuristic military outfit. Then there was the obvious, red and blue clad hero who was the ring leader.

"Woah, woah, woah, this is a HUGE misunderstanding!" they yelped.

The female figure also held her hands up. "Look, this isn't what you think. We must have the wrong house."

Liz bristled, " _who are you_?"

"We, can't actually tell you that," the red and blue clad superhero sputtered.

Liz already knew. She could smell it. Her heightened senses made for excellent detective skills. Claire stood there in silence, trying to hide the weapon she had and her half naked body. She'd let Liz handle things for now. "Jesus, I told mom and dad that we should move somewhere without the costumed freaks. I mean Jesus, now they are breaking into houses for no reason?" Liz huffed, crossing her arms, "Is going above and beyond the law not enough for you?"

"You should be ashamed. You call yourselves heroes, then break into a house when only the kids are home? Pathetic. JJJ is right, you are menaces," Claire quipped as she put her hands on her hips.

"We should call the cops."

"You just can't move anywhere without some freak thinking they can disregard the law."

"No! No..please, it's really not what you think!"

"We apologize for our indiscretion but we thought that you may be a part of an evil organization. It seems that our target framed you. You have our sincerest apologies. We won't bother you again," the one in green spoke.

Liz took a deep breath, "get out of here, before we change our mind. And if you ever come back we'll make sure you pay."

Claire watched as they went to the open window they had come through. "We're awfully sorry," the female in white spoke as she disappeared.

Claire went to the window and slammed it closed. "Check if they took anything, or bugged the room," she said turning around to check the end table by the bed.

"Way ahead of you," Liz quipped, searching through the dresser.

A few minutes of silence passed before Claire finally spoke. "You chose mercy," she hummed, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Only because I couldn't risk blowing our cover."

Claire glanced over to her sister as she finished checking the area, "Liz. You and I both know you don't think of that in the heat of the moment."

Liz paused what she was doing, clenching her fists. "So what," she growled spinning around to face her sibling, "Don't think I didn't see you with the knife."

Claire placed the knife down on the end table, letting out a sigh. "Well at least a knife is more practical than killing someone!" she sighed.

Liz felt the anger bubbling up inside of her. She slammed her hands down on the dresser, dishevelling some of the belongings. "You don't get to criticize me about it," she half yelled, half sobbed. She honestly didn't know what to think anymore. She dipped her head low, not making eye contact with Claire.

"Liz-"

"Just- just go away, i'll meet you there…"

Claire walked to the door in silence, but said one last thing before she went down the stairs, "I'm really sorry Liz."

Liz scoffed at her sister and turned to walk into the bathroom. She took a look in the mirror, criticizing her face. Hating herself for how much she used to look like her mother, whom she'd never get to see again. She hated that they had to hide from their family and friends from their old life. She knew it was hard on Claire, but it was also hard on her. She needed to calm down before they went out tonight, or else risk blowing their cover or even hurting someone. She splashed her face with water before leaning against the sink with her hands.

She shut the water off, taking deep breaths through her nose. Maybe Claire was right. She shouldn't be this closed off, but she had to put distance between the two of them. She felt too close, and that could be their downfall. If anything happened to either of them, the other would come undone. They had to learn to function on their own, or risk losing the only people they had left. That didn't mean she couldn't make things right.

Claire was in mid thought when Liz stalked in. She was pulling her hair back so it wouldn't be in her face and Liz fought the urge to tell her it was unnecessary. She had already caused enough problems for one day. Claire looked up from where she was lacing her boot.

"Thought you said you were gonna meet me there?" the golden brunette quipped.

"Whatever,"she taunted her sister as she grabbed her suit, quickly changing back into it.

Claire hummed and secured her utility belt, something she had picked up from a past mentor. Liz only used one since she couldn't bring a backpack with her all the time. It was usually a judgement call for Liz. Depending on the assignment and the equipment she needed. She made her way to the lightswitch, turning out the lights once Liz was done. She silently opened the back door and snuck out through the backyard with Liz following close behind. They made their way over the fence and towards the inner part of the city, to the bank that Liz had scoped out earlier in the day before.

When they finally got to the building across the way, they noticed a significant lack of security than when Liz saw it before. "They knew," Liz growled as she overlooked the area.

Claire surveyed and noticed a few different unmarked vans parked near the exit. "Timber," she cautioned as she noticed movement, big burley men moving around by the windows set off internal alarms for her, "This isn't the heros. This is someone using the leaked heist to their advantage."

"Well then Jaguar," she fumed, "Let's go take care of this problem."

The girls moved from their spot on the roof to the alley below. Liz darted around to the back entrance, quickly disarming the security locks and entering through the door. She hid quietly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She darted behind on man, knocking his legs out from under him. He yelled out, pulling the trigger on his way down. No one got hurt, but it gave Liz the perfect distraction to take out two more. The dropped to the ground quietly. She could hear the voices in their ear pieces. She took them out and quickly crushed them beneath her boot. No need for them to hear her.

She could hear a slight buzzing, kneeling down she found a silent alarm. It hadn't sent out a signal yet, but it was going to. She pulled out a small flash drive and plugged it into her wrist computer (Another design courtesy of her dad's brilliant mind). She immediately began hacking the signal before it could be broadcast to the alarm company.

"Timber?" Claire called out,"location?"

"Over here," the lighter grey clad hero called from behind a counter, "they were about to trigger the silent alarm. I'm in the process of disarming it."

Claire made her way over to the safe where Liz was tinkering with a wiring system. "So are you saying this is a bust after all?" she questioned as she leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on the doorways.

"If I don't get this shut off," Liz growled as she wiped her brow, "then yes. But I think…. Yahtzee!"

There was a slight whirring sound of the system shutting down. Claire nodded and moved from the wall as her sister turned her attention towards the large vault that had a dial with numbers on it. Claire groaned inward and pushed her sister out of the way. "You stand look out," she said placing an ear to the safe, "I'll crack this in no time."

Liz grumbled something under her breath, but she knew Claire would be able to get in faster than she would. Claire's hero name pertained to her cat like capabilities. She had heightened hearing, night vision, and better smell than the average human. The only downside was that she had poor color vision. She could tell colors, but they were very dull tones. Liz on the other hand had canine like powers. She had an unbelievable sense of smell, a powerful bite force, and she had a magnetic sensitivity. She had worse colorvision that Claire did though. The girls had their ups and downs, but they found that they work well together.

Liz was snapped out of her thoughts when a new smell came wafting through the building. She growled from instinct, causing Claire to turn her attention from the vault to the possible new threat. "Keep them busy," she whispered as she quickly turned her attention back to the safe, "I have one more number to enter. Then we're in."

Liz nodded to her sister and darted out of the room. She rounded the corner in time to see two more un-named criminals stalking through the lobby area. She had no doubt these were the men the voices in the coms belonged to. She took a deep breath, holding it as she tossed a small, marble-esk device towards the masked men. They didn't notice until the tiny device exploded in a burst of smoke. To anyone else it just smelled like smoke, but to Liz, it was like a fingerprint. She'd be able to track that scent if they somehow got away. The men coughed as the smoke irritated their airways as the young girl stuck to hiding in the shadows.

"Who threw that?" one asked through coughing fits.

"I don't know, I can't see anything!" The other replied.

Liz smirked, weighing her options. She could get a higher, better vantage point and hit them both in one swoop, or she could go directly at them and take them on that way. There was one other option though. One she was actually rather fond of. She could stall, toy with them a bit. Claire would call for her when she was done, and she always got bored waiting for her to finish up.

"Wow, you guys really suck." She called out.

"Who's there, Show yourself!"

She switched her goggles to the infrared tracking system she had installed. It would be a good test run for it.

"How about, no. No sounds good to me."

"You little punk!" one guy shouted as the other criminal tried to calm him down.

"Listen, sounds like a kid, and you gotta be more gentle with kids." She could see the man's heat signature crouch down, "C'mon out kid, we ain't gonna hurt ya, we just want what's best, so let's just get ya outta here so you don't hurt yourself."

Liz hummed in a crude mockery of thought, "Hmmm tempting, very tempting, but there's one tiny little problem with your statement."

The man laughed a bit as Liz started walking. With the smoke clearing now, the men could see parts of Liz's suit. Her plated shoulder armor, and the grayscale color of the base. And the fact that her mask looked almost menacing. It covered the lower half of her face. It protruded out, like a snout, and the grooves that cut along it almost resembled a wolf's snarl. They were frozen in place, too shocked to say anything. She got close to them, just walking as anyone would. Then stopped in front of them, standing on her tiptoes to whisper in their ears.

"I was told never to go with strangers." She held back a chuckle as the men jumped before turning to action.

The two turned on her and began to throw punches. Liz fought the urge to sigh, before dodging the throws. She threw her own hits, tossing her weight around to make the hits count. One man managed to grab her loose hair in a fist, making her wince at the tension. Claire didn't seem to stupid now that she was on this end of it. He lifted her up off the ground as she tried to writhe away from the man holding her. As she was dangled above the ground, the other man stood from where she had knocked him. He wiped his mouth and made his way to approach his partner with the little girl. "You think you're clever," he growled as he drew his hand back, he paused though when he heard a click followed by a chuckle, "What was that?"

Claire smirked as she opened the safe and turned to find her sister. When she heard nothing, she used her hearing to her advantage. She heard the fast pace of her sister's heart and that made her worry. Claire crept her way in the shadows, making sure she was unnoticed. She peered around the corner, only to find herself doing a backbend to avoid a baseball bat. "Whoa there," she chuckled as she flipped her feet up, landing a foot to the man's jaw.

Claire flipped herself rightside up and marched over towards the two men who apprehended her sister.

"Told you to cut your hair."

"Shut up Jag."

Claire clicked her tongue and grabbed the man's fist which was pulling back another hit. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?" she giggled as she pulled, yanking the man off balance so she could land a kick to his back which sent him forwards.

The man called out in pain as Liz tried to wriggle her way free once more. Claire growled, almost in a primal way. She held down a hand as she triggered her claws. The man she had just kicked was now staggering to a standing position, turning back to her before charging. Claire saw him coming at her. She sidestepped him, swiping at him as he passed. The man screamed in pain as blood appeared through his shirt. He turned back around, charging again as Claire pulled back her fist. She landed a solid hit to his jaw with enough force to make his head snap around. He fell unconscious at her feet. She took a moment to glance back at Liz.

She saw that Liz had managed to pull herself up, move her mask down and, with little shame, bit the arm that was holding her hair. With her increased bite force, she easily snapped the man's arm and her teeth tore savagely through his flesh. He let go of her hair and she dislodged from the man's arm. She was free from his grip and on her feet in seconds. He glared angrily at her as she replaced her mask.

"You little brat, you're gonna pay for that!" He screamed as he held his arm, blood dripping from the new wound.

"What is it with people thinking I'm little? Like yeah I'm short, we get it, but _little?!_ That's just insulting," she complained loudly, crossing her arms, "And yet, here I am, as a 'little girl' kicking your ass. That's gotta hurt your pride!"

She faked a yawn as he charged her. They always did that. She sidestepped easily, doing a small little dance and twirl when she did. She continued to dance around him, dodging and weaving. She was just faster than him. He tried swinging at her, only to have her duck down and trip him. Claire held back a laugh as she watched. Her sister sure liked to toy with the criminals still. A trait she had picked up with their old team.

"Oh come on big fella, you're not even trying!"

He tried to grab her, but she jumped up at the last second. "Wow! Almost had me that time!" She quickly flipped, kicking him in the jaw and landing on her feet.

"And she sticks the landing!" she cheered, punching him in the bridge of the nose.

He wobbled for a moment groaning, before falling backwards.

"For your own good, just stay down, ok?" she chastised as she turned to her sister.

"Think you overdid it there?" Claire asked as she walked back to unload the safe.

"Nah, he grabbed me by the hair, I had no choice but to bite him."

"I wasn't talking about the biting."

"Oh." She responded. She was silent for a moment before shrugging and bending down to load up the duffle bag.

"I had some spare time, I figured why not have fun with it."

Claire sighed, "you know you can't let yourself get carried away. I know this time you were in control but-"

"Enough Claire!" Liz exclaimed, feeling a rage boiling up inside of her, "I get it. You don't trust me to be in control. It's hard enough knowing everyone else is afraid of me, I don't need to know that you are too."

Claire looked away and finished emptying the safe. "Let's get this over with," she said in a low growl, "We'll talk about this at home."

"Tch," she clicked her tongue as she looked at the meager amount of money in the safe, effectively changing the subject, "This wasn't even worth hitting. Did they move it all before hand? Or what?"

"The plot thickens" Claire mused, "But we don't have time for that now, we gotta go."

They zipped up their bags and were out the door in less than a minute. When they thought they were clear they stopped to catch their breath. They fist bumped each other and shared a small laugh, but it was quickly cut off by an all too familiar voice.

"Thanks for taking those guys out for us, why don't you hand over the money and we'll call this a big misunderstanding?" a blue and red clad hero called out as they stepped into the alley.

Claire rolled her eyes and looked at her sister who looked none too enthused.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it Arachno-pest!" Liz yelled, bristling a bit.

Man this guy was annoying. How were they supposed to get through this job with him on their asses. Claire watched intently as her sister taunted him.

"Hey that's- actually that was a pretty good one," he conceded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well this has been lovely," Claire interrupted the two before conflict could arise, "but, we need to be going now."

Claire turned and huffed. Liz glanced back and found that the clever banter was a rouse. Behind the two girls were three more heros. The same ones that had been in their house earlier that day, though one was missing.

"One, two, three, four," Claire counted playfully, putting one claw up to where her mouth should have been on her mask, "One of your friends is missing."

"I tawt I taw a putty tat," Liz called out in a jeer, sniffing the air and looking up.

"She won't be able to get a good drop on us from that angle. Might as well come down kitty cat."

She smirked when she saw the fifth one. The girl's shoulders sagged as made her way down from her perch on the fire escape.

She climbed down the fire escape, "how did you-"

"I don't have to tell you anything," Liz quipped, grabbing something from her utility belt, "You see this? I have the tunnels under the bank set to detonate. Let us go, or the bank, the buildings, and civilians around it end up as a sub-terra installation."

Claire side glanced her sister, knowing that with how the day was going that her sister was unpredictable. "Timber," she scolded as she surveyed the area, "we don't harm civilians. You know that. Now why don't we all settle down."

Liz glared at her sister, still holding the detonator. The group of young heroes looked at them before exchanging worried glances. "Look, how bout you give me that" a white sticky strand struck out from the red and blue hero's wrist and stuck to the detonator, "thank you very much. Now, how bout the money?"

Claire tightened her grip on the bag she held. A scowl landing its way on her face, "how bout you get out of here before we have to hurt you."

The one boy floating in the black and gold outfit chuckled, "As if you could hurt us. You're just a bunch of girls."

Liz growled and Claire became increasingly more anxious by the second. Her sister was already on edge, and these guys were not helping the situation.

"Yeah, well, guess what lightbulb, I've taken down harder hitters than you," she addressed the floating one before rounding the the blue and red guy, "And do you really think I'd have the real switch out in plain view like that? Ever heard of a decoy?"

And just like that the device the boy had taken from her started to spray a thick smoke, shrouding the area in a blanket of it. It made them cough and sputter, but when the smoke cleared the girls were long gone. "Where did they go?" the red and blue hero called out once his coughing fit ceased.

"Well Spider-man," the one in yellow bellowed, "Judging by the fact that the nearest sewer cover is 20 feet away, I'd say check the roofs."

"Thanks Powerman," Spider-man groaned sarcastically as he shot a web out from his webslinger and shooting up to the rooftops.

The others shrugged and followed him up. "Nova," Spiderman called once his floating companion was by his side, "circle a perimeter. They can't be too far. White Tiger and Iron Fist, pick a direction and start looking. They have to be sticking to close by roofs that they can jump to."

The two nodded and took off in opposite directions in search of the two girls. Spider-man turned to Powerman and groaned. "Fury is going to be so mad if we lose them," he said pacing back and forth, "Where did they go?! I mean come on!"

Powerman surveyed the area, narrowing his gaze as movement caught his eye. "Uh, Spidey," he tried as his partner was droning on and on.

"I'm super smart! They can't be that hard to find," he exasperated as he threw his hands in the air.

"Peter!" the taller man belted, finally earning his friends attention.

"What?!" he asked, walking to his friends side, "Luke, what is it?"

"Figured that you'd like to know they went that way," the tall african american said as he pointed in the direction of the subdivision they live in, "y'know. Seeing as Fury would be ' _so mad_ ' and all."

"Your amazing!" Peter called as he pulled up his wrist that held his communicator, "Everyone head south. They're heading towards Queens!"

Peter and Luke began rushing towards the last known location of the girls. Whether they would still be in the same place, or still running off would be a surprise.

Liz took a deep breath, looking back towards the direction they came from. "We've got company." she huffed, digging around in her belt for something useful.

She pulled out a marble sized metallic ball, her sister side glanced her before jumping to the next building. "That better be a smoke pellet Timberwolf," Claire jeered as she peered over her shoulder to check the distance between the people chasing them, "They're gaining on us."

"No shit Jaguar," she cursed her sister as she threw the pellet, "why would I throw something else?! You won't let me!"

"Now's not the time!" the older girl said as she looked forward once more to see a big gap in the buildings, "big jump coming up!"

The pellet landed just at the foot of the two pursuants. Spiderman stopped just shy of the object as Powerman kept running, the rest of their group stopping just shy of Peter. "Powerman!" Spidey hollered for his friend as the object was nearly crushed under his heavy foot. The pellet exploded, leaving puddle of oil-like fluid in it's place.

"W-woah!" he yelled, slipping and falling on his back.

Peter sighed, "Fury is going to be so ticked when he finds out about this."

"Don't worry webs, i'll give you some credit when i catch them!" Nova yelled, zooming past both of them, "Since oil-slick doesn't work on me!"

Liz paused on the roof of a building to survey their surroundings. "That won't slow them down for long, especially the sparkplug, we have to think fast."

"So what do you suppose we should do?"

"I'll distract them, you take the cash and run! There's no way they'll catch you. You're faster than me after all!"

Claire sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in thought, "Fine, but be careful. You know I hate splitting up."

"Yeah yeah," Liz huffed, tossing her bag at Claire, "Just get a move on will you? They'll be here any second."

Claire nodded as she jumped down and continued to run in a different direction. Liz grabbed the knife she kept hidden in her holster. She usually only used it to climb flat surfaces, but she'd need to use it to cut through Spider-man's webs if she had to. It was dull though. Very dull, and she wasn't even sure it would actually cut through anything. She had her back to the ledge as she crouched down to search through her belt for anything useful. She normally wouldn't leave her back open like that, but in this case it was to her advantage.

"Looks like your partner abandoned you. Some friend huh? Why don't you stand and put those hands up," Nova called, dropping down to hover roughly ten feet from the girl. Liz smirked and she did as she was told. She lifted her hands into the air.

"Oh. um, ok...I expected you to fight me on this…..just...turn around and walk toward me nice and slow."

Liz complied, turning and walking forward slowly. She had to time this right. The black and gold clad hero puffed up, aiming what she assumed to be a plasma cannon of some kind at her. His aim was steady. He wouldn't hesitate. She could appreciate that in a way. It was something she was used to. Something she could predict, and it calmed her. She was used to people trying to kill her. This was something she could handle. The others showed up shortly afterwards.

"Wow buckethead, you actually managed to subdue her. Good job" Spider-man laughed, "Wait, where's the other one?"

"Dunno, found this one crouched down, the other one was nowhere to be found. I assumed that she abandoned her partner."

Liz scoffed a bit, "Don't assume, it makes an ass out of you and me."

Spider-man chuckled a bit, "She has a point, we need to find the other one."

"You won't be able to. She's even better on her own. You'll never find her, and if you do, you'll never catch her. It's pointless. In fact, " Liz stopped a mere foot from Nova's cannon, "You won't even be able to catch me!"

It one swift move she grabbed Nova's arm and whipped it to the side. As she moved, Nova had fired the cannon, but with how quickly Liz had moved his arm, he ended up hitting White Tiger instead, causing her to fall off the edge. Spiderman went after her quickly, leaving Nova, Iron Fist, and Powerman to deal with Liz themselves. She quickly jumped onto the boy's shoulders, yanking his helmet off. This caused them both to fall to the ground.

"Hey! Give that back!" he yelled as she rolled away. He was beyond livid.

"Wow, I had a hunch, but I even doubted it for a moment. Oh well, I have no use for this thing anyways."

She tossed the helmet away, "Now, let's see how good you are without your magic helmet thingy."

Liz launched at him, hitting him easily. She kept throwing punches until eventually he collapsed to his knees. She was behind him in a second with the knife to his throat. She knew how dull it was, and it was good for nothing more than climbing brick walls, but they didn't know that. The heroes in front of her froze.

"Alright, so here's the plan. I'm going to let your buddies get your helmet, and you're gonna come with me. When i'm satisfied that they won't attempt to follow, then i'll let you go and you can call for them to come get you. Got it?"

The others watched helplessly as she dragged him up and began to pull him away with her. Spider-man grit his teeth behind his mask. He had rescued White Tiger, but she was out cold from the force of the blast. He addressed Liz with malice in his voice.

"Who the hell are you?"

Liz grinned behind her mask. She could at least give them an answer to that.

"Timberwolf. That's all you get on a first date sweet heart, so until next time spiderbabe, see ya!"

She pulled Sam over the edge of the building with her and they were gone.

Liz ended up carrying the boy over her shoulder for a few miles till she was sure that she wasn't followed. She only started carrying him because he was slow compared to her. It was like he was trying to stall. Eventually they were far enough away that she wasn't worried about them following. She set her captive down, stretching a bit.

"Jeez sparky, you need to lay off the junk food." she huffed, popping her neck.

"What the hell?! Were you really going to kill me?" he yelled, backing away from her a bit.

"Nope, the knife was way too dull to ever do any damage. It couldn't cut you, even if I had wanted it to. It's my climbing knife." she chuckled.

"You mean….I was never in any real danger….oh what the hell!"

Liz laughed more, "No hard feelings sparky, you have your job and I have mine. And for the record, there weren't any explosives, I had traps rigged up, but nothing that would hurt anyone."

She eyed the bruise forming on his cheek. It hadn't been her plan, but she had to improvise. She actually did feel kinda bad about it. She didn't understand why.

"Anyways, I'm outta here, don't bother trying to follow me. I'll know and i'll kick your ass three ways to next week."

And then she was gone.

Liz arrived home and found her sister sitting in the living room, the top half of her costume tied around her waist as she counted the money. "You sure took your time," she teased as she finished counting the last of the first bag.

Liz huffed and plopped herself down onto the couch next to her sister, careful of the stacks of money. She unzipped the bag and handed her sister a stack of hundreds before taking her mask off and tossing it on the coffee table. "You have no idea," she panted, running a hand through her hair, "I ran. A LOT! And had to carry the human lightbulb for a majority of it! He's heavy!"

Claire chuckled as she started a new pile for the money. She looked at Liz, who had her head leaned back against the couch. Her eyes were closed, and if she didn't know any better, she would have mistaken her for being asleep. But she knew better. Liz's eyes opened and she glanced over at Claire.

"What?" She asked, scowling when she found she was being watched.

"Nothing, you just seemed really at peace is all," Claire mumbled as she looked away and continued counting the money.

"Yeah, and?"

"And I haven't seen you this peaceful in a long time. Not since….well, you know…"

Liz nodded, "Just relishing in a job well done. They underestimated us, so it worked to our advantage, but I doubt it'll work a second time."

Claire nodded along. She knew her sister was going over statistics in her head. Their strengths, their weaknesses. She was right though. The same trick wouldn't work a second time.

"I hate to admit it, but Parker is a good fighter. He knows his team. And worse yet he knows how to lead them. This just got a hell of a lot more tougher."

"Yeah, but we have something they don't."

"Oh really? And what's that?" Claire asked, rolling her eyes.

"The element of surprise. They don't know the full extent of our abilities. They only saw a fraction of it, plus I've already managed to catch them off guard and unmask one of them. We can use that to our advantage. Besides, it's not like we have to keep this up for long. Just until Fury says enough. They don't know that we're on the same side. Well, mostly on the same side."

Claire chuckled a bit, counting the last stack of cash and setting it aside.

"I'm gonna miss this life, it's kinda fun being a loaded gun."

Liz sighed and stood up. She'd already discarded her mask and goggles, and she had noticed a few glitches with the system.

"Did you notice the lag in the infrared system, or was it just me being nit picky?"

"Lizzie, when aren't you nit picky?" Liz raised a brow at her sister, "Ok ok, point taken. Yes i did notice a tiny bit of an image delay, but it didn't interfere with my abilities at all."

"I'm gonna go get my computer and some tools. I think i need to adjust my plates again. They seem too loose for some reason."

Claire nodded, watching her sister leave. She had a feeling she was just avoiding the topic she knew Claire was going to bring up. Liz had made that a habit of hers. Claire never bothered her while she worked. It was something of an unspoken rule.

Liz left Claire to work on hiding the cash and changing out of her suit. Liz came back into the room after what seemed like almost forever. She had forgone putting actual pants on, but thankfully had at least a tank top on. Claire took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What if we end up having unexpected guests?"

"Then they can get the fuck out of our house."

Claire huffed, ignoring her sister's remarks, "So, we got just a little over twenty grand…."

"I knew it wasn't going to be much, but jeez. It really wasn't worth hitting."

Liz sat down on the floor and Claire had noticed the laptop in her arms. She frowned. Apparently they weren't going to talk. Liz opened her laptop and started tapping at the keys. She worked in silence, pretty much ignoring everything around her. It's what she always did, and it bugged Claire more than anything. Before the accident, Claire thought it was amazing what Liz did. She admired her diligence and focus, but now it was a curse. It was an avoidance tactic and Claire hated it.

"You can't ignore this forever Liz, we have to talk."

"No. We don't." Liz furrowed her brows, basically giving Claire the cold shoulder.

Claire stood up and kneeled before her sister, "Please Liz, talk to me! I'm scared, and if you keep ignoring me, I- I don't think I could take it!"

Liz took a long deep breath, still not looking up from her computer. Claire looked down, defeated. She knew it was a losing battle with her. She wasn't the same anymore. She knew that, but she was just kidding herself. Liz wouldn't go back to 'normal', whatever normal was for them. After a few seconds the soft clicking of keys stopped, and she heard the computer shut with a soft clunk.

Claire smiled to herself as her sister put the computer on the chair next to her. "Look," she said running a hand through her loose curls, "I just don't want to go through it again. I don't like the memories. So I don't want to talk about it."

The older of the two girls nodded, her smile falling from her face. "I understand Liz," she said placing her hands on the much smaller girl's shoulders, "the memories hurt, but they're there to remind us of what needs done. If we hadn't of lost dad-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Liz shouted as she stood up off the chair, shoving Claire back into a sitting position on the floor, "I don't want to even think about things like that. They're what keep me up at night. They are the constant reminder of what will be taken away in an instant if I don't keep my guard up. I can't afford to lose any more people that I care about. I'm cutting ties to protect you and myself. So there is no further discussion. Get over it."

When she finished, the small girl grabbed her computer and stormed into the garage, leaving Claire on the floor. She hung her head, knowing that she wouldn't get the old Liz back. Claire decided with Liz shut away, she could let her guard down finally. She broke down, tears streaming down her face. The arguing was never something that she was good with, it always froze her up. She sobbed on the floor for a bit before she pulled herself together. She walked up the stairs to the room she shared with her sister and climbed into bed. She glanced at the clock, feeling the exhaustion setting in, 1:30 AM blinked back at her. ' _Not much sleep,'_ she thought to herself as her eyes drifted shut, ' _but at least it's something.'_


End file.
